Rouben Ter-Arutunian

Despite its elegant gorgeous stage set, and costumes of awesome beauty and richness of detail, some of the fairy-tale magic of "George Balanchine's 'The Nutcracker' " has been lost in its translation from a staged ballet into a film. However, the dancing is breathtaking, the narration keeps the story moving, and it is as well acted as it is danced. This is a full corps de ballet version, sumptuous with classic ballet sequences in their full glory....